


Please Avoid the Stepping Stones

by fearformuninn



Series: DKV [1]
Category: Elder Scrolls, Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Genre: Gen, I'll probably write more (and introduce the later party members) eventually, and I'm starting to know them (aka this is the first thing I've written for them), because i hate myself and i love my ocs, especially if there is any response to this, they're just starting to know each other, this is just a character study for my darlings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-10
Updated: 2016-05-10
Packaged: 2018-06-07 12:12:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,065
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6803617
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fearformuninn/pseuds/fearformuninn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Also known as "The One where our Not-Quite-Yet-Noteworthy Heroes Realize that Three Melee Fighters May Not be a Good Strategy"</p><p>The dragonborn and his main bro venture into a disgusting crypt crawling with dead people. Their guide, an expert in a variety of fields, including archaeology and beheading things with a battle-axe, is quite a bit more competent than they thought. She might be worth keeping around.</p><p>The value of a mage is considered. Warriors who have never met a mage realise that they know little about magic. Who knew?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Please Avoid the Stepping Stones

**Author's Note:**

> These three are the original members of a party of six OCs. Their story will eventually include all of them, as well as a good number of characters from the game.
> 
> I'm not sure what form their story will take, whether it will be an epic length story or snippets and snapshots from their journeys in a land with which we are all quite familiar. 
> 
> Depending on the response, there may not be much more at all. It's likely that there will at least be enough to introduce the rest of the party, but after that, who knows?
> 
> If you like this, feel free to ask any questions about these guys, and I'll answer to the best of my ability. Leave them in comments or message me on tumblr. My url is fearmoreformuninn, and my tag for these characters is #dkv
> 
> I want to keep their story as lore-friendly as possible, so there will be some nuances to their personalities that may not be clear in just this.
> 
> Also, this is my first time writing these characters, so it was really an attempt to flesh them out. They'll probably become smoother and more consistent as time goes on.
> 
> Happy reading!

“Hold!”

The desperate cry stopped Tannuck’s heart. Divines above, what could possibly be wrong now? He swore, if she didn’t stop crying wolf for the sake of getting to investigate her ancient ancestor’s rotting corpses (which she had just hacked to bits), Tannuck was going to run her through. What good was a guide through Nordic ruins if she presented a bigger danger to his well-being than any of the damned draugr?

“What?” Tannuck said (without, he would note, a hint of petulance). He turned to face her, expecting to see her looking reproachfully at Hadmar or excitedly at some inane carving on the wall. He did not expect to see her watching him, eyes wide with fear.

“What?” he repeated, though this time with a bit more concern. 

Rikje took a few careful steps forward, eyeing the ground. “There’s a pressure plate about a finger’s width from your foot, orc.” She stilled a moment and allowed him to discover his near-death for himself. “And not one of your fingers. One of my dainty ones,” she said, removing her left hand from her battleaxe to wiggle her fingers in his face.

Hadmar snorted, and Tannuck rolled his eyes. Nords. He slid his large foot away from the stone on the ground - really, he had very nearly missed it - and backed away, giving the Nord woman the floor. “Uh, thanks for the notice, Rikje.”

She turned from her inspection of the mechanism to the tall orc, her eyes denoting a hint of surprise and amusement. “Don’t mention it. I’ve seen these activate before, there was no use to let you die in it. Now, should we find a trap I’m not familiar with…” she trailed off, looking more innocent than the little flower-seller he’d almost tripped over in Whiterun, and turned back to the trap.

“Oh, no you don’t. I am your best shot at getting out of this crypt alive. You may have a mean swing, but you’re going to need more than that to chop down all these rotten bastards.” His lips stretched open over his teeth. “You’re going to need a professional.” 

Hadmar chuckled and smacked Tannuck’s shoulder, not flinching at the loud clang of metals. They were used to it. “I’m offended. You’d think the Last Dragonborn, a hero of legend, would be qualified to stab a couple draugr without having to rely on a mercenary,” he said with a grin.

A loud snap, and Rikje stood, brushing the dust off of her armor. Tannuck raised an eyebrow. “And you’re both going to need me to get through here. Nords weren’t just going to rely on brute strength to keep people out. There are puzzles in here, and secret passages, and you’ll need me to get through them.”

She took a step on the pressure plate, then walked through the passage. “After all, that’s why you hired me, right? Which would, curiously enough,” she looked at Tannuck, “make me a professional.” She continued walking, leaving the two to creep through the previously-dangerous passage. 

“I like her,” Hadmar said, grinning. He did that a lot more frequently these days, Tannuck noticed.

“Of course you do,” he rolled his eyes. “You like everyone.”

A growl from the dark, and the warriors were ready. All three took to the front lines.

Four draugr emerged from their tombs, eyes glowing, and soon found themselves without the limbs they had grown rather attached to in their long years. Such as their heads.

One bashed a mace into Hadmar’s well-used shield, hammering him back. The impact dazed him, but he managed to slice open the monster’s chest.

He glanced at Tannuck, who gave him a laugh so hearty, it made him miss his next swing.

The draugr decided to hiss, however, rather than stab, which gave Rikje the opening she needed to remove its head.

Panting and out-of-breath, the three warriors moved on.

“We need to rethink our battle strategy,” Tannuck proposed. It might have been dramatic if his voice weren’t shaking.

“It may be a tactical error for all of us to be right in the front,” Rikje agreed. Her voice, too, was quite thin. 

“Oh, right. Well, how about you stand in the back then?” Tannuck said. “We all fight up close!”

“There are other weapons. Not all of them require you to be close enough for the enemy to hiss in your face.”

“Right, and who do you propose should become the archer?”

“I didn’t...” Rikje sighed.

There was silence for a moment.

“We should get a mage,” Hadmar suggested. Rikje and Tannuck paused for a moment, thinking, and nodded.

“One that shoots fire,” he added. “None of that crap magic.”

“That would be nice,” Rikje said.

Tannuck tripped on a dismembered limb and swore. “Or maybe we could get a healer.”

Hadmar snickered. “I thought the whole point was that we needed someone to help fight. Besides, that sort of mage isn’t strong enough. They’d die in the first fight.”

Rikje snorted. “What about a conjuror? They can summon things that shoot fire.”

“So they can have something to hide behind? No!” Hadmar scoffed. “Your ideal mages sound far too squishy to last down here.”

Tannuck shoved his friend. “Well, that’s the point, innit? We’re trying to find someone who won’t stand in the front. Mages hide in the back, behind the warriors.” His voice dropped to a whisper. “That’s us, by the way. We’re the ones they hide behind.”

Hadmar shook his head and turned from his (now cackling) friend to Rikje. She shrugged, smiling sheepishly. “He’s kind of right. Mages do tend to run on the squishy side.”

He rolled his eyes and continued down the path, hearing his companions’ laughter behind him. “We’ll go to the College of Winterhold after we get out of here. I don’t think it’s far.” At Rikje’s snort, he amended, “Not too far, anyway. We’ll see what kind of mage they can lend us. After all, I am a hero of legend.”

“Not yet, you’re not. You’re a dragonborn, yes. But you haven’t done much ‘heroing’ yet.” Rikje walked past him, driving her axe into a draugr to preemptively chop off its head before it decided to wake up. 

“But don’t worry. With us by your side - and your strong, fire-shooting mage - you’ll be ‘legendary’ in no time.”

With that, the three continued into the dark.


End file.
